I admire Nicola Sturgeon’s great political skills and the way she campaigned during the general election but at the same time I believe that she should remember that this time last year a majority of Scots rejected independence. I do not believe that it would be fair or even possible to hold yet another referendum on Scottish independence any time soon.
Now, as a Chelsea fan I was rather upset that we lost the Community Shield to Arsenal but I am not insisting on a replay because we didn’t get the right result. Perhaps I am speaking out of context by comparing football to a Scottish independence referendum but at the same time, Jose Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, accepted the defeat and perhaps Sturgeon should do likewise. Yes, promises were made during the independence campaign and Scotland was promised greater home rule which the government is moving to introduce. But, while Sturgeon can accuse Prime Minister David Cameron of false promises, the same can be said of the Scottish Nationalists. Their economic arguments were based around North Sea oil, which is in serious decline as world oil prices continue to fall. Now obviously any nationalist will dream of independence and Sturgeon can rightly say that her party enjoyed a hugely successful election campaign which saw them winning all but three of Scotland’s parliamentary seats. But remember 12 months ago independence was rejected, and there is no going back. Defeat can be difficult to swallow.